1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shirts, and in particular to a disposable adhesive collar and cuff attachment employed to retain laundered shirts in a desired configuration after laundering and until they are worn.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Different methods have been employed in shirt laundering to help stabilize a freshly laundered shirt in order to maintain its crisp, pressed appearance and avoid creases and wrinkles. Among currently employed methods are straight or safety pins, metal or plastic clips, folded cardboard pieces, staples and nylon threads. These devices are attached to the collar and/or sleeve cuffs of the shirt in order to keep the shirt from opening or inadvertently falling from a support hanger. Metal components such as pins, clips or staples suffer from the serious drawback of possibly discoloring the shirt from rust if they become wet or damp. Pins and staples can leave holes in the shirt, and have sharp ends which must be handled carefully in order to avoid puncture wounds. Plastic clips do not attach as firmly as pins or staples, but although less hazardous they have a greater tendency to become loosened or detached, or to break.
At least two different types of cardboard shirt collar stays are known in the art. The first is in the form of a rigid rectangular collar shaping piece having a generally T-shaped upper section hingedly attached at the bottom of the "T" to a generally U-shaped lower section. In use, the horizontal top of the "T" is folded over the top button into the inside of a shirt collar, and the two vertical sides of the "U" are placed under the shirt collar on either side. Unfortunately, such a shaping piece, even if made of sturdy cardboard, is susceptible to easy dislodgement, as well as tearing along the folded hinges. It is not likely to stay in place or provide the necessary support if there is any substantial movement of the shirt itself. No support for the sleeves is provided at all.
The other known cardboard collar stay is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,286. It consists of a flat generally H-shaped piece having V-shaped upper and lower notches, with adhesive on one of the flat surfaces covered by a removable backing. After removing the backing, the lower notch is engaged with the uppermost shirt button and the upper legs are attached via adhesive to the undersides of the collar lapels. This collar stay requires that the shirt have a lapel and an upper button in close proximity with the collar, and that such button on the shirt be buttoned closed. Many tuxedo shirts have small collar lapels, or none at all, making this type of stay unusable. Many other shirts have no upper button, and for those that do, it is time consuming and cumbersome to engage such a button before attaching such a collar stay. Also, such a stay will move around the button. Finally, this collar stay provides only a very small area for engagement to the collar itself which may easily be dislodged. No support for the sleeves is provided at all.